Secrets behind death of spy Ben Zygier revealed in new book, Prisoner X, by Rafael Epstein

Rafael Epstein

Melbourne-born Mossad spy Ben Zygier was imprisoned for spilling details of his secret mission targeting Iran, and was followed by Australian security agencies while on leave in Melbourne in 2009.

My new book on Zygier, who committed suicide in an Israeli jail cell in 2010, also examines Zygier's fragile mental state in the last years of his life.

The book, Prisoner X, contradicts previous reporting on Zygier's supposed crimes in which it was claimed he failed to recruit a Lebanese double agent for Hezbollah, and ended up betraying double agents who worked for Israel.

Zygier was to be charged by Israeli authorities in 2010 after he revealed details of his work for an Italian-based communications company with contracts in Tehran. He was part of a significant operation targeting Iran's nuclear program, with an Australian security source saying Israel ''built themselves a platform that required considerable planning, expenditure … it was a very important asset for Israel's national security, and ultimately for the benefit of the West''.

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Sources in Australia and Israel say he revealed details of his work to an Iranian businessman who was at Monash University's Caulfield campus while Zygier was also studying.

Sources in Australia and Israel claim the Iranian knew that what he was hearing was valuable, and relayed the information to Iran. Tehran's security services started talking about the Mossad agent, and the details revealed by Zygier then became part of the electronic traffic between Iran and a European capital city. This electronic communication traffic was then picked up by the massive surveillance network operated by Israel.

Zygier was also the subject of a significant ASIO operation at the time, with concern over his use of his Australian passports for Mossad operations overseas.

Details of Zygier's work, and of another Australian Mossad agent he was working with in Italy, were leaked by Australian intelligence sources to then Fairfax journalist Jason Koutsoukis. One of Koutsoukis' sources claimed to have been following Zygier on the streets of Melbourne.

Despite the Australian intelligence operation targeting Zygier, his case was never discussed by ministers in the Rudd and Gillard governments, despite the intense focus on Israel in 2010 following the use of Australian passports in a Mossad assassination in Dubai.

The passports issue was a top priority for cabinet's National Security Committee, but Zygier's incarceration, his death, and the Australian surveillance of him were not discussed in 2010 by the nation's top spy chiefs and ministers concerned with intelligence and security.

An Israeli judge asked the country's prosecution service to consider negligence charges after examining a litany of mistakes. The guard in charge of Zygier's cell on the night he hanged himself left the adjoining guard room four hours early.

The guard told a police investigation he could have prevented Zygier's death if he had been closer to the cell and its cameras had been maintained properly. "I would surely have noticed Zygier's preparations for his suicide, and prevented it," he said in testimony released by the Israeli court.

Zygier's case led to the revelation of another secret prisoner who lived alongside the Australian in the jail near Tel Aviv. Stories about this second prisoner have since been removed from Israeli news sites.

Zygier's family later received around $1 million in compensation from Israel, and agreed not to take civil action.

The family did not contribute to the writing of the new book, and maintain their media silence over their son's death. ASIO also declined to comment on the book.